Spatial statistics is one of the most rapidly growing areas of statistics, rife with fascinating research opportunities. Yet many statisticians are unaware of those opportunities, and most students in the United States are never exposed to any course work in spatial statistics. Written to be accessible to the nonspecialist, this volume surveys the applications of spatial statistics to a wide range of areas, including image analysis, geosciences, physical chemistry, and ecology. The book describes the contributions of the mathematical sciences, summarizes the current state of knowledge, and identifies directions for research.
This book is a collection of papers on spatial statistics for remote sensing. The book emerges from a study day that was organized in 1996 at the International Institute for Aerospace Survey and Earth Sciences, ITC, in Enschede, The Netherlands. It was by several means a memorable event. The beautiful new building, according to a design by the famous modern Dutch architect Max van Huet was just opened, and this workshop was the first to take place there. Of course, much went wrong during the workshop, in particular as the newest electronic equipment regularly failed. But the workshop attrackted more than hundred attendants, and was generally well received. The results of the workshop have been published in Stein et al. (1998). The aim of the workshop was to address issues of spatial statistics for remote sensing. The ITC has a long history on collecting and analyzing satellite and other remote sensing data, but its involvement into spatial statistics is of a more recent date. Uncertainties in remote sensing images and the large amounts of data in many spectral bands are now considered to be of such an impact that it requires a separate approach from a statistical point of view. To quote from the justification of the study day, we read: Modern communication means such as remote sensing require an advanced use of collected data. Satellites collect data with different resolution on different spectral bands.
With the widespread availability of satellite and aircraft remote sensing image data in digital form, and the ready access most remote sensing practitioners have to computing systems for image interpretation, there is a need to draw together the range of digital image processing procedures and methodologies commonly used in this field into a single treatment. It is the intention of this book to provide such a function, at a level meaningful to the non-specialist digital image analyst, but in sufficient detail that algorithm limitations, alternative procedures and current trends can be appreciated. Often the applications specialist in remote sensing wishing to make use of digital processing procedures has had to depend upon either the mathematically detailed treatments of image processing found in the electrical engineering and computer science literature, or the sometimes necessarily superficial treatments given in general texts on remote sensing. This book seeks to redress that situation. Both image enhancement and classification techniques are covered making the material relevant in those applications in which photointerpretation is used for information extraction and in those wherein information is obtained by classification.
This book brings together a collection of invited interdisciplinary persp- tives on the recent topic of Object-based Image Analysis (OBIA). Its c- st tent is based on select papers from the 1 OBIA International Conference held in Salzburg in July 2006, and is enriched by several invited chapters. All submissions have passed through a blind peer-review process resulting in what we believe is a timely volume of the highest scientific, theoretical and technical standards. The concept of OBIA first gained widespread interest within the GIScience (Geographic Information Science) community circa 2000, with the advent of the first commercial software for what was then termed ‘obje- oriented image analysis’. However, it is widely agreed that OBIA builds on older segmentation, edge-detection and classification concepts that have been used in remote sensing image analysis for several decades. Nevert- less, its emergence has provided a new critical bridge to spatial concepts applied in multiscale landscape analysis, Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and the synergy between image-objects and their radiometric char- teristics and analyses in Earth Observation data (EO).
Theory of Spatial Statistics: A Concise Introduction presents the most important models used in spatial statistics, including random fields and point processes, from a rigorous mathematical point of view and shows how to carry out statistical inference. It contains full proofs, real-life examples and theoretical exercises. Solutions to the latter are available in an appendix. Assuming maturity in probability and statistics, these concise lecture notes are self-contained and cover enough material for a semester course. They may also serve as a reference book for researchers. Features * Presents the mathematical foundations of spatial statistics. * Contains worked examples from mining, disease mapping, forestry, soil and environmental science, and criminology. * Gives pointers to the literature to facilitate further study. * Provides example code in R to encourage the student to experiment. * Offers exercises and their solutions to test and deepen understanding. The book is suitable for postgraduate and advanced undergraduate students in mathematics and statistics.
"In an age of big data, data journalism and with a wealth of quantitative information around us, it is not enough for students to be taught only 100 year old statistical methods using ′out of the box′ software. They need to have 21st-century analytical skills too. This is an excellent and student-friendly text from two of the world leaders in the teaching and development of spatial analysis. It shows clearly why the open source software R is not just an alternative to commercial GIS, it may actually be the better choice for mapping, analysis and for replicable research. Providing practical tips as well as fully working code, this is a practical ′how to′ guide ideal for undergraduates as well as those using R for the first time. It will be required reading on my own courses." - Richard Harris, Professor of Quantitative Social Science, University of Bristol R is a powerful open source computing tool that supports geographical analysis and mapping for the many geography and ‘non-geography’ students and researchers interested in spatial analysis and mapping. This book provides an introduction to the use of R for spatial statistical analysis, geocomputation and the analysis of geographical information for researchers collecting and using data with location attached, largely through increased GPS functionality. Brunsdon and Comber take readers from ‘zero to hero’ in spatial analysis and mapping through functions they have developed and compiled into R packages. This enables practical R applications in GIS, spatial analyses, spatial statistics, mapping, and web-scraping. Each chapter includes: Example data and commands for exploring it Scripts and coding to exemplify specific functionality Advice for developing greater understanding - through functions such as locator(), View(), and alternative coding to achieve the same ends Self-contained exercises for students to work through Embedded code within the descriptive text. This is a definitive ′how to′ that takes students - of any discipline - from coding to actual applications and uses of R.
Spatial Analysis Using Big Data: Methods and Urban Applications helps readers understand the most powerful, state-of-the-art spatial econometric methods, focusing particularly on urban research problems. The methods represent a cluster of potentially transformational socio-economic modeling tools that allow researchers to capture real-time and high-resolution information to potentially reveal new socioeconomic dynamics within urban populations. Each method, written by leading exponents of the discipline, uses real-time urban big data to solve research problems in spatial science. Urban applications of these methods are provided in unsurpassed depth, with chapters on surface temperature mapping, view value analysis, community clustering and spatial-social networks, among many others.
This book provides a cross-section of cutting-edge research areas being pursued by researchers in spatial data handling and geographic information science (GIS). It presents selected papers on the advancement of spatial data handling and GIS in digital cartography, geospatial data integration, geospatial database and data infrastructures, geospatial data modeling, GIS for sustainable development, the interoperability of heterogeneous spatial data systems, location-based services, spatial knowledge discovery and data mining, spatial decision support systems, spatial data structures and algorithms, spatial statistics, spatial data quality and uncertainty, the visualization of spatial data, and web and wireless applications in GIS.
The only single-source——now completely updated and revised——to offer a unified treatment of the theory, methodology, and applications of the EM algorithm Complete with updates that capture developments from the past decade, The EM Algorithm and Extensions, Second Edition successfully provides a basic understanding of the EM algorithm by describing its inception, implementation, and applicability in numerous statistical contexts. In conjunction with the fundamentals of the topic, the authors discuss convergence issues and computation of standard errors, and, in addition, unveil many parallels and connections between the EM algorithm and Markov chain Monte Carlo algorithms. Thorough discussions on the complexities and drawbacks that arise from the basic EM algorithm, such as slow convergence and lack of an in-built procedure to compute the covariance matrix of parameter estimates, are also presented. While the general philosophy of the First Edition has been maintained, this timely new edition has been updated, revised, and expanded to include: New chapters on Monte Carlo versions of the EM algorithm and generalizations of the EM algorithm New results on convergence, including convergence of the EM algorithm in constrained parameter spaces Expanded discussion of standard error computation methods, such as methods for categorical data and methods based on numerical differentiation Coverage of the interval EM, which locates all stationary points in a designated region of the parameter space Exploration of the EM algorithm's relationship with the Gibbs sampler and other Markov chain Monte Carlo methods Plentiful pedagogical elements—chapter introductions, lists of examples, author and subject indices, computer-drawn graphics, and a related Web site The EM Algorithm and Extensions, Second Edition serves as an excellent text for graduate-level statistics students and is also a comprehensive resource for theoreticians, practitioners, and researchers in the social and physical sciences who would like to extend their knowledge of the EM algorithm.
